Staffers drove the vehicles around 6,000 miles in 50 tests, going in circles, speeding around curves and maneuvering through obstacles.

"We push it to the limits here to see how it does," said David Champion, director of the Consumer Reports Auto Testing Center in East Haddam. "So when we report in the magazine, we think a car that does well here is going to safer for the people to drive."

The results?

"These are what we would we call the valedictorians of their various classes," Champion said.

"These are cars that have performed excellently in our testing, that got average or better than average reliability," he added. "They're all well-rounded cars. They just don't do well in one test. They do well in all tests."

Electronic stability control – either standard or as an add-on – was a key feature for which Consumer Reports looked. In tests, ESC allowed expert drivers to better maneuver obstacle courses; without it, even expert drivers careered into the cones.

Having ESC standard helped vault the Hyundai Elantra SE to the top of the small-car category.

Another Hyundai, the Santa Fe, was the top pick in the very competitive mid-sized SUV category.

"Hyundai some years ago were really sort of the bottom feeders in the early '90s," Champion said. "You know, they were poor cars, (had) poor reliability, and they almost went out of business.

"But since then, they've come on in leaps and bounds."

The Elantra retails at $18,000, and the Santa Fe between $22,000 and $31,000.

Toyota's RAV4 – retailing from $23,000 to $30,000 – came in at the top of small SUVs, while Toyota's Sienna was again the top minivan, with a retail price between $24,000 and $37,000.

In family sedans, the redesigned Honda Accord won for the sixth year in a row. It retails between $22,000 and $31,000. The Infiniti G35 was the top pick for upscale sedans, with a price tag from $33,000 to $35,000.

Garden GuyMar 4, 2008

Agree - there is a definite positive bias from Consumer Reports toward Toyota. I have a '05 Toyota and a '07 Honda. Both are good vehicles, but the Honda has much better fit and finish. Too bad CR didn't cover the quality of paint. The Toyota's paint seem to scratch itself. A platic button cuts thru the paint top coat. The Honda is just the opposite.

CestLaVieMar 4, 2008

"If you've had a stressful day at work, just get in that, and just relax on the way home."

OK. And then how do I afford the ridiculous car payments on that very pricey price tag?? This applies to the Silverado too.

This country's huge economic problems will drive motorists to buy the cheaper cars, most of the time. Too bad most of them are from foreign-owned companies. Gee, I wonder how many foreign-born "Americans" are on the CR testing panels and staffs??

ncweddingdj.comFeb 29, 2008

Take a brand new Hyundai somewhere and see what you can get for it in trade or cash. It has the resaale staus and value of....a Hyundai. Don't be fooled by the hype.

Junk is junk.

Broker - Back from LurkingFeb 29, 2008

CR has always been a bit sketchy when it comes to their ratings. They even admit that Toyota would get assumed top-pick status before Tundra's quality issues were smaking them in the face. Toyota does admittedly make very good products, but it isn't scientific (as CR claims to attempt) to automatically assume one product is better (or worse) based solely on past performance.

But I also take issue with how they test vehicles in closed environments only. While that is appropos for controlled one-on-one testing, it is meaningless in the real world (eg, Edmunds tests vehicles for up to years on the road for true ownership quality review). Hyundai has improved, but they are not best simply b/c they are cheap. G35's are fun and high-quality craftmanship but have major durability and cost of repair issues in my pers. experience in the real world. Oh well.. they are in business to sell magazines I guess.